The Absent One

By: Jussi Adler-Olsen

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen introduced Detective Carl Mørck, a deeply flawed, brilliant detective newly assigned to run Department Q, the home of Copenhagen’s coldest cases. The result wasn’t what Mørck - or readers - expected, but by the opening of Adler-Olsen’s shocking, fast-paced follow-up, Mørck is satisfied with the notion of picking up long-cold leads. So he’s naturally intrigued when a closed case lands on his desk: A brother and sister were brutally murdered two decades earlier, and one of the suspects - part of a group of privileged boarding-school students - confessed and was convicted.

But once Mørck reopens the files, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Looking into the supposedly solved case leads him to Kimmie, a woman living on the streets, stealing to survive. Kimmie has mastered evading the police, but now they aren’t the only ones looking for her. Because Kimmie has secrets that certain influential individuals would kill to keep buried... as well as one of her own that could turn everything on its head.

Every bit as pulse-pounding as the book that launched the series, The Absent One delivers further proof that Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of the world's premier thriller writers.

©2012 Jussi Adler-Olsen (P)2012 Penguin Audio

The Absent One Carries On

Like the previous book "The Keeper of Lost Causes", I really liked the characters and the story, BUT the narrator's version of Assad is JARRING. My take on him was that in the previous book he was from Syria, a more brooding, sophisticated and intelligent person accidently in a lower-level police janitor job, whose misunderstanding of the idioms of his new home makes his verbal outbursts humorous. Steven Pacey makes him sound like someone who is funny because he doesn't get it...a person who could not be effective on his own... not the same thing... I hope the new book has a narrator that doesn't distract the story and the interaction between Morck and by giving Assad a silly sounding dialogue...
I listen to it in spite of how it sounds, though...

Always lively mystery from Jussi, but too violent.

If you could sum up The Absent One in three words, what would they be?

Loved the Keeper of Lost Causes. Liked the ending of The Absent One. But too violent and vulgar for my taste. Still looking forward to book 3.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Absent One?

Great ending. Love Assad!

Power and wealth corupts

Victim or perpetrator - this is the story behind bullying, objectification in extreme - how wealthy people and those with a belief they are above the law meet their end not through clever police work but by their own cruelty - no one wi a in this novel - it is a study of a woman’s revenge not for the wrong she has done but for the wrong that was done to her - it’s an interesting read of self loathing and pity just appear with the reality of those that are above the law - a really interesting line is how the perpetrators regard why they can not be arrested is because their companies bring in so much wealth and job creation! Enjoyable read - thought provoking and a realistic detective with issues of his own - the subject matter may not be for everyone - but it makes the reader question what really goes on and to what cruelty can man gravitate too

The amount of animal cruelty in this book seems intended to torture to the reader.

It’s always puzzling when writers use a lot of animal cruelty. Why would anyone want to read about animal torture, much less write about it? It ruins a book and always makes me wonder if the writer doesn’t somehow enjoy writing this kind of description. This writer must enjoy torturing his readers because the lack of humane descriptions is excessive. Maybe he is a sadist. He is a writer who certainly lacks empathy.

Great story, great characters, wrong narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Absent One the most enjoyable?

The story was very original and dark. There was no formula.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. By being different than the typical crime novel in making the despicable protagonist a sympathetic character

How could the performance have been better?

The first book was narrated by a guy with an accent from the area where the story takes place. This narrator was doing some sort of bad Eliza Doolittle impression. If a book is based in another country, the narrator should be striving to put us in that country. This narrator put us in 19th century London.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not so much.

Any additional comments?

I like this author a lot. I like these characters a lot.

Thoroughly Enjoyable Listen

Book 2 of this new series was an entertaining listen. The main character was more fully developed in this book and the interactions between Carl and his assistants, Assad and Rose, (in Dept.Q) made for a lot of humor in an otherwise depressing case. The premise was a bit out there but it made no difference as I followed the sequence of events to the final conclusion. The end was inevitable and well written making me long for another book and a few more hours with this cast of characters. Really enjoyed the reader as well.
I gave this book 5 stars as it kept me hooked into listening and finishing it in a couple of days!!

Carl Mørck is the next best thing to Joona Linna

What did you love best about The Absent One?

The plot was spectacular.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Absent One?

Kimmie's every display of TLC when she was with her most treasured possession.

What about Steven Pacey’s performance did you like?

He did a very good job making the voices sound different.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me feel sad for Kimmie. I knew full well what she was, but it was largely the fault of the people who'd damaged her throughout her life. A pitiful creature who did AND didn't deserve her fate.

Any additional comments?

Really looking forward to the next book!

Don't give up on Department Q

If you could sum up The Absent One in three words, what would they be?

Hang in there. If you listened to the first story and became involved with the characters, the new narrator was a shock. An English accent just did not work here. But if you stick with it for a while, the story more than makes up for it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Rose. She is the latest addition to this team of cast offs that demonstrates the whole is better than the sum of the parts. She seems to be a scatter brain that finds a way to produce results. She is just fun.

What didn’t you like about Steven Pacey’s performance?

English accent is not suited for Nordic Noir

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Kimmie and her package make you realize just how disturbed a soul can be. Even under circumstances she helped create.

Y Q #2?

I don't know what possessed me to return to this series after my review of book one was lukewarm at best. However, I'm pleased to have returned to Department Q. This book is gruesome and sad but despite the mystery being pretty much revealed from the start it is engrossing to listen to the detectives figure it out and find redemption. This time around the characters are more enjoyable and there is hidden humor in this dark story. On to Q #3.

Narration ok

As always a great story, but I would have liked the "voice" of the characters less British. It helps me to get into the story